


Life Before the Letter

by Gkgucc02



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alcohol, Coffee, Cursing????, Europe, F/M, Germany, Mourning, New York City, Paratroopers, Pre-War, Sad, Smoking, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, This is a slow painful burn, War is hell, World War II, idk how this is gonna turn out, im honestly not sure what this is SORRy, maybe sad maybe happy, post-war maybe, sorry about this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:34:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23817757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gkgucc02/pseuds/Gkgucc02
Summary: All's Fair in Love and War. Marie was seriously questioning the logic of whoever said that.A select group of women from each state would be lucky enough to be selected to join the WIIAC, short for Women Integrated into Armed Combat. New York native Marie Vesco, hears her fathers words in her head every day when heading to work, "Don't settle for New York, get out and do something worth remembering."When Marie's application for the WIIAC is approved, she is sent to Camp Toccoa, Georgia to become a paratrooper with the 506th PIR.She hopes this is what her father meant.*the WIIAC is not real, I'm sure most people know that, but I wanted to put a small disclaimer just incase :)*
Relationships: Richard Winters/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

December 1941

Marie Vesco was born on November 14th, 1922 in a poorly lit, cold, apartment bedroom in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Marie was a quiet child, she would be friendly and she had an fiery sense of humor but, only if you knew her. She kept strangers out of her life, that was until she met Emily Brant at the age of 10 in 1933. Marie knew that no matter how hard she tried to fight it, Emily Brant would weasel her way into her quiet life and become her best friend. They were complete opposites, Marie was studious and introverted while Emily liked to be the center of attention, her personality just as boisterous as her laugh. She had a large family, albeit many of her relatives were still in Italy. She got straight A's in school every year, she graduated, and got a job as a secretary. Her life was boring to say the least. 

The very last place anyone expected Marie Vesco to be was a recruitment office in 1941, picking up papers that could place her in the US Military, paratroopers, to be more exact. While on the brink of war a new program was being put into place, WIIAC, short for, Women Integrated into Armed Combat. Each state was permitted 7 women to put into combat, but they needed to be approved by the branch they were looking to join. Marie needed to be a paratrooper. Her father had told her since the day she was born that she shouldn't stay in New York, she would be the most successful Vesco in America if it was up to him. She took those words literally, if not New York then why not across the entire world. She craved a new life and this was her one opportunity. There would be 329 women put into combat and out of all the applications that had been processed, two had been for the paratroopers, Maries would be the third.  
Marie got her application papers and she stepped back out onto the road and walked the 6 or so blocks back to her family's apartment. She hadn't even had one foot in the door before she was held up by her mother.

“Marie Giovanna Vesco, what’s in your hand.” She eyed her daughter warily, unsure if she wanted an answer or not. 

“It’s a, Its um its-” She struggled to get the words out for one reason or another.

“Marie spit it out.” 

“It’s an application, ma, for the WIIAC. I'm applying to join the army airborne.” Her stomach lurched into her throat as soon as she got the words out. She already could hear her mother's words in the back of her mind.

“No, no daughter of mine will be jumping out of planes, let alone go to war.” Scolding Marie while very harshly folding a dish towel on the counter, almost to show her disdain, acting as though Marie couldn't already hear it in her words. 

Don’t retaliate, Marie kept telling herself that over and over again, keep your mouth shut. She knew that once her father came home he would understand, he would be proud of her even. So, Marie sat down at the dinner table, right in front of her mother, and began filling out the application. 

About 45 minutes into filling out the never-ending papers, the door opened and her father walked in with her kid brother hot on his heels. The former stopping in the dining area, peaking over Marie's shoulder at the papers she was filling out. Anxiety trickled into Marie's stomach as she smoothed the papers down, gently blowing on the ink that had yet to dry before moving onto the next page. Biting the inside of her cheek she looked up at her father. 

“WIIAC application, huh?” He questioned after looking down at the papers and then at his daughter's face. 

“Yeah, I figured I should give it a shot, I mean Mikey’s in the Marines so I thought-” She was cut short.

“What did your mother say?” He already knew the answer but he wanted to hear it from her.

“She um, she said no, I mean, what did ya think she’d say.” A sad sounding laugh passed through her lips as she looked back down at the papers, wondering if she should rip them up now or later.  
“  
I'll talk to her about it, you take Vinny down the street and get bread for dinner tonight.” Marie sat there, mild shock gracing her features, he was going to talk to her. “Go, before I change my mind.”

“Vinny! Come on we're going down the block.” She eyed her father carefully before they left.

February 1942

It was 7:30 in the morning, Marie was banging down the apartment stairs, probably waking up the entire building as her feet hit the steps, taking two at a time. The reason for the excitement: the mail. She finally made her way to the bottom of the stairs and the mailbox. Blindly pulling the mail out of the box she rushed back up the stairs, pulling the door open and being careful not to slam it shut. Sifting through the thin envelopes, bills, bills, bills, US Army, bills. US Army, holy shit. Padding over to her room she grabbed her letter opener, careful not to tear any of the paper inside the envelope. 

Dear Ms. Vesco,  
yada yada. On behalf of the US Army Airborne unit, we are pleased to offer you a spot in the WIIAC program. You will report to Camp Toccoa, Georgia on Monday, July 13th, 1942...

“Holy mother of God.” She thought she had been quiet enough so as not to wake her family, but as soon as the words left her mouth she heard her father's gruff accented voice speak up in front of her. 

“Marie! Non nominare il nome di Dio invano, come on you know better.” The switch from Italian to English didn’t phase Marie, nothing could phase her, at this moment she felt invincible.

“I’m sorry dad, but come here look, I got in! Holy shit I can't believe I got in.” Her father let the cursing slide just this once, mostly because he could see just how happy she was and partly because it was early and he didn’t feel like yelling. He took the paper from Marie's hand looking at it for a solid 30 seconds before he pulled Marie into a tight hug, the paper crumpling up in his hand slightly as he patted her back. 

“I knew you could do it, I love your brothers but you, you Marie, you’re gonna make me the proudest father in the entire world.” His voice wavered at the end and as he pulled away from the hug Marie pulled her head back and saw two tears drip down his face. Happy tears. She had never seen her father cry before. Not long after the moment shared between Marie and her father, her mother walked out to the kitchen getting ready to start a pot of coffee.

“What’s going on out here you two?” She didn’t bother turning away from the counter as she asked the question. 

“Mama, I got in.” it came out much quieter than she thought it would but honestly, she was happy she got those words past her lips at all. 

“In where?” 

“The Army Airborne, ma, I leave for training camp on July 11th.” Her eyes closed as she awaited the response from her mother, and she waited, and waited, and waited until finally, Frannie Vesco took a sharp breath in and in her sternest voice possible she said, 

“Marie Giovanna Rosalia Vesco if you even think about dying I will find you wherever you are and I will kill you.” Deep breath out, her mother's words and arms wrapping around her at the same time, she felt the stout woman breathe out against her torso and she felt tears drip onto the exposed skin on her shoulder. 

After the commotion in the apartment had died down Marie slid over to the phone mounted on the wall and called Emily’s house, hoping to catch her before her first class of the day.  
Her mother answered. “Hello, may I ask who’s calling?” 

“Hi Mrs. Brant, it’s Marie, has Emily left yet or did I just miss her?” 

“She just left but she should be home by noon if you’d call back then?” Marie internally cursed her sluggishness, knowing just how early Emily leaves the house. 

“Alright, well, thank you, Mrs. Brant, I'll call at noon.” 

And so she did call at noon, Emily answered this time and now they were on their way to Coney Island for hot dogs and snow cones, in the middle of February nonetheless. Marie wanted to waste no time in telling Emily the news. Once they found an empty bench, Marie figured she would break the news.

“Em, I got a letter in the mail today.” Marie’s eyes were trained on her friend watching to see her every move.

“Oooh was it from that cute boy you like on my block? Oh god, Marie, you know I always forget his name. What is it again? William? No no that's not right-”

“Emily! No, it wasn't from him, and his name is John, thank you. No, ya see Em, the letter was from the Army. You remember how I filled out that WIIAC application a few months ago?” Emily nodded, cheeks puffed out from the bite of hot dog she had taken. 

“Well, I got in, I'm gonna be a paratrooper, em, I leave July 11th I have to be in Georgia by the 13th so I figured why not get a head start and leave 2 days-” Marie looked up from her hands when she noticed Emily had gone silent. 

“Emily? Helloooo Earth to Emily.” She waved her hand in front of her face a few times, but to no avail as Emily Brant sat there in a trance, hot dog still in her mouth. After what felt like 10 hours Marie time, Emily finally blinked, once, then again and then finally, 

“Marie, I uh wow I don't know what to say. I mean i-I'm gonna miss you like a lot but that's obvious, ohmygosh and you can’t die, Marie! Remember, we have to be each other's maids of honor, so I promise if I find a boy I really like I'll wait to marry him until after you come home. And you do the same, don’t go and fall in love without me because if you get married in a foreign country I won't be there just remember that Marie. And- OOF.” Marie slammed into her like a linebacker and wrapped her arms around Emily, when they let go of the hug Marie stuck her right pinky finger out. 

“Okay pinky promise, One, you won’t get married until I come home, Two, I won’t fall in love and get married in a foreign country and Three, I won't die. How does that sound? Three easy promises yeah?” A single tear ran down Emily's face. 

“You can’t promise the last one to me, Marie, I wish you could but you just can’t. You know that.”

Marie agreed to let that promise go, she had to. She would be just fine. She would come home after the war, be Emily’s maid of honor, maybe marry that boy on Emily’s block, have kids, and grow old. And if she couldn’t promise that to Emily, or her family, then she would promise it to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

July 11th, 1942

Marie's last day in New York. She had a quick dinner with her family and Emily’s family said her goodbyes to everyone and then Marie and her father hopped in the car, their destination being Grand Central Terminal. The ride was short only 20 minutes or so and with each passing minute spent in silence, Marie’s anxiety grew worse and worse. She kept telling herself to find a bathroom as soon as she got inside so she could throw up, she wanted to spare her father from that sight. 

Marie had her eyes shut breathing in and out, in and out, her eyes snapped open as she felt the car come to an abrupt stop, right in front of the train station. She looked over to her father to find that his eyes were brimmed with tears, waiting to fall out as soon as Marie got out of the car. She scooched closer to her father and pulled him into a short hug, she felt him kiss her cheek as she pulled back, the pair now crying, their efforts to keep the tears inside was abandoned. 

“I won't be gone long dad before you know it I'll be back at home working my 9 to 5, telling Vinny all the crazy stories I can think of.” Her eyes said something different, they held the uncertainty that she kept out of her voice.

“I don't care how or when you come home just as long as you’re safe and in one piece. I said the same thing to your brother when I dropped him off here and I'll tell you too, you do whatever it is you have to do to come home to us, now go, you’re gonna miss your train.” He cleared his throat of the sadness his tears brought, patted his daughter on the face, and watched her leave the car with her duffle bag in hand. 

Marie leaned into the car through the window. “Love you, Dad, tell mom I said so too, oh, and Vinny. Okay, I have to go my trains gonna be here in ten minutes.” with one last wave and smile she was off. 

An hour into her ride the train had a stop in Philadelphia a few passengers got up to stretch their legs, but Marie was dead asleep with her head pressed up against the window, holding her bag in her lap so nobody would steal it. She was woken by a man tapping her on the shoulder and as she took a moment to get her bearings she noticed the train had filled up, she looked to the man who had woken her up. 

“How can I help you?” The sentence tapered off at the end with a yawn.

“I was wonderin’ if anyone was sitting across from you here? It's one of the only empty seats across from a normal-looking person.” The man had a pleading smile on his lips. 

Stifling her laughter, Marie gestured to the seat across from her, “It's all yours um…”

“Bill” The man, now named Bill stuck out his hand which Marie took in hers, granting him a quick handshake. “The last name’s Guarnere.”

“Well Bill, I’m Marie Vesco. It's very nice to meet you.” With a quiet "Likewise" On his end, Marie was back in dreamland within minutes. 

8 hours later Marie was rudely awakened by the rising sun, blinking away the blurriness of sleep she looked across from her, happy to see Bill still sitting there, magazine in hand. 

“God, what time is it?” She saw Bill peep his eyes over said magazine.

“It's almost 6, why ya got somewhere to be?” His joke earned a low grunt from Marie who was very much not a morning person. 

“Just making sure I don’t miss my stop, Bill.” He could hardly hear her being that her head was in her hands trying to shield her eyes from the sun. 

“Where ya gettin off?” She looked up at him, in her head hoping that the conversation wouldn't last too long as she was still in her sleepy stupor.

“Uh Toccoa, Georgia, you?” 

“No way! Me too! Are you a nurse, going for training?” His curiosity continued and Marie knew she would have to fully wake up so she could coherently carry her end of the conversation.

“No, I'm WIIAC, training to become a paratrooper. What about you, are you a nurse?” Bill let out a laugh at that comment. 

“So, you’re gonna be a paratrooper huh? Didn’t know they were letting women into the military.” There was no malice behind his words, but being that the sun was burning her eyes and she was still slightly grumpy from waking up so early Marie bit back at his comment. 

“Well, they are. Why d’you have a problem with that?” She realized her words as soon as she said them, looking back up at Bill who wasn't taken aback by her words in the slightest. 

“God, I’m sorry I didn't mean to sound harsh, I mean I just met you for christ sake!” The words tumbled out of Marie's mouth. Bill sat back silently laughing at her spew of words. 

“It's fine and for the record, no, I don't have a problem with that, some other fellas might though so just be careful is all.” 

“Yeah, right, thank you.” The conversation trailed off and Marie was thankful for the silence other than the train. 

The last 7 hours of the trip consisted of a small breakfast, some short conversation between the two, mostly about growing up in an Italian household, and their thoughts on the war. Marie decided she liked Bill, and Bill decided he liked Marie. 

The train stopped in Toccoa, the pair grabbed their bags with only two between them and stepped off the train Marie, right behind Bill. Once they had made it to Camp Toccoa they were sent to separate check-in areas, Marie was sent to the nurse and WIIAC check-in where she learned that she was the only female who’s application had been approved for the paratroopers. She was assigned to Easy Company in the 506th Infantry Regiment, 2nd platoon. As she was walking to the barracks she caught sight of Bill heading in the same direction as her. 

“Hey! Bill, wait up.” Marie jogged over to where he was stopped waiting for her. 

“So... where did you get assigned to?” She asked with a newfound giddiness in her voice. 

“Easy Company, 2nd platoon. You?” He looked down at her as she busted into a huge smile.

“Oh thank God! Me too. Thank God.” Bill laughed at the joy held in her words. 

It was nearing 6 o’clock when they got to the barracks. Bill walked up the few steps that led to the door, but Marie was cemented to her spot on the ground, she was shitting herself. She looked around and noticed all the people, mostly men, who were staring at her as though they had never seen a woman before. She was kicking herself at this point, asking herself why she thought this would ever be a good idea. Bill was behind her pushing her up the stairs, and try as she might there was no way she could push back. 

The few men that were in the room went silent as they looked over at her, still as a statue, she tried to stutter out a greeting, instead, it was Bill who had to introduce them both. 

“Bill Guarnere nice to meet you fellas. This is my friend Marie Vesco, just met her on the train here, be nice.” Marie now knocked out of her mini panic attack caught her breath and a small smile appeared on her face. 

“What's a broad doing here?” A man who she would soon find out was named Donald Malarkey asked. 

“I'm part of the WIIAC program, I’m gonna be training with you guys.” 

Two men, Skip Muck and Alex Penkala introduced themselves to her and Bill, they seemed nice enough she thought. Still unsure about the redhead in the back she walked up to him as the other three mingled. 

“Hi” That's it, just a wimpy hi. 

“Hi sorry, the names Donald Malarkey, I didn't mean to come off as rude before Miss, I just wasn't expecting to see a woman here s’all.” A sheepish smile graced his features.

“Well if it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t expecting to be here either. Also, don’t call me Miss, it makes me feel old.” a worrisome laugh came out of her mouth, trying and failing to defuse the awkward situation. Finally, as if he were a godsend, Bill came over with Skip and Alex and asked the pair if they wanted to go walk around the Camp for a few, Malarkey accepted the offer but Marie chose instead to hang back. 

She was having a hard time calming her nerves so as the four boys left the room Marie got an open bed in the back corner of the room, put her bag underneath it, and flopped down with a heavy sigh. After what seemed like an hour, she heard the door open hoping it was Bill and the other boys, but instead it was one tall man and one shorter man. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up, the two new people in the room staring her down the shorter one with his mouth wide open. 

“Uhm, hi. I’m Marie. I’m not a nurse, in case you were wondering. I'm part of the WIIAC program. Sorry. Nice to meet you.” She realized mid-way through she stuck her hand out awaiting a handshake, but now she just retracted her hand from the open space.

“Uh yeah, Marie hi. I'm Carwood Lipton.” He did not attempt to salvage a handshake.

Then the shorter one spoke up “Robert Wynn, but you can call me Popeye, it's what all my friends call me.” 

Marie giggled a bit and nodded her head before she could get another word out, Carwood Lipton was speaking up from behind Popeye. 

“So, you're gonna be training with us Miss? His head slightly bowed after the question was asked, almost as though he was admonishing himself. 

“Yeah, as far as I know, I’m gonna be doing everything you boys are doing. And don’t call me Miss, it makes me feel old.” How many times was she going to have to say that sentence?

Marie quite liked Carwood and Popeye, she thought they were nice, fun to be around, quiet. And quiet was exactly what she wanted right now. The three of them continued to speak for some time and before long Bill, Skip, Alex, and Donald were back. 

Throughout the night the rest of Easy Company showed up, each introduction Marie handed out was just as awkward as the last. Only a few of the boys didn’t seem bothered by her presence, but many gave her odd stares, she could hear them talking about her. “What's a broad doin in a place like this?” “She should just become a nurse.” “Does she think she's gonna make it through training?” 

Most of the company had joined in together now, some boys were playing cards, others just smoking and talking. It was around 8:30 when Marie had decided to go out for a walk, and though she planned to take it on her own at some point Bill joined in with her. He brought along Joe Toye, one of the few men who wasn’t bothered by her. 

“Ya know boys I was hoping to just take a walk on my own.” Marie looked between the two as she spoke. 

“Well, ya see Marie Joe and I decided that you shouldn’t walk alone, I mean who knows what kinds a people are walking around here at night.” Joe just sighed and tried to clear up Bill's sentence. 

“I think he means that it’s our first night here and we don’t know who’s an asshole and who's not.” 

The three made their way through the camp, at one point passing the mess hall, where three men made their way out. One lanky, odd-looking, he stumbled around obviously trying to exude some type of authority but he just seemed very unsure of himself. The other two about the same height, one with dark features, the other bright red hair, shining in the light of the tall lamp posts that littered the camp. 

Marie’s breath caught when she looked at him, I mean how could it not he was a very handsome man. The brunette and the redhead passed Marie and the boys, she felt like she was walking in slow motion, dramatic as it sounds. No eye contact was made between the two, because as soon as he looked over their way the slightest bit Marie’s head flew down. God, she was acting like a schoolgirl. 

The trio had made their way back to their barracks, not without a few men from other companies putting in their two cents as Marie passed by. When she got to her bed there was a pile of Army issued clothing waiting there for her, the pajama set on the top she pulled it off, she had nowhere to change. There was no way in hell she was getting undressed in front of all these boys. 

Grabbing her things she left the barracks through the back and silently made her way to the latrines closest to the building. This would have to do. When she re-entered the room, half of the men were asleep and the other half were writing letters, smoking, or playing cards. 

Nobody paid any attention to her, better off she thought. She didn't fall asleep that night, and when she saw the sunlight through the cracks in the door she was the first one up already changed into her uniform. The boys got up one by one, Marie was sitting on her bed silently praying that she wouldn’t get eaten alive.


	3. Chapter 3

Whoever wasn’t awake when the sun came up was certainly awake now. Not a minute past 5 am and Lieutenant Sobel was walking down the aisle of the barracks, his large boots clunking every which way. Marie was sitting on her bed, legs stretched out, her booted feet were crossed right over left. 

“Stand at attention! Now!” Sobel’s words made her and the rest of the platoon jump up, not out of fear more like intimidation, which they would all soon learn was an unnecessary feeling. 

Stalking up and down the right side of the room he stopped in front of Marie looking her up and down, all eyes were on her but as soon as Sobel started moving again everyone snapped forward. Two men stood at the front of the room. The ginger and brunette from last night.

“Lieutenant Winters and Lieutenant Nixon will be watching over this platoon, running this platoon, shaping this platoon to my standards, do you understand?”

A few “yes sirs” were heard around the room Marie’s voice sticking out like a sore thumb.

“I said, do you understand?” Louder and harsher this time. It was a front.

“Yes Sir!” Sobel still didn’t look pleased with the response, but he decided to move on from that.

“You all will report to me out front fully dressed in 2 minutes, you will stand in three lines at attention.” Sobel walked out of the room, it was like he was never even there. 

“2nd platoon listen up! Make sure your PT gear is under your uniform, makes it quicker for conditioning.” Lieutenant Winters looked over the room once before him and Nixon walked out just the same as Sobel had.

Marie’s back was turned to the boys as she tucked her top into her pants, the uniform was slightly big on her, she would try to get a smaller one later, unlikely but she would still try. 

“Jesus Christ can you believe that guy.” Marie jumped around quickly, her hand on her chest.

“God Bill don’t scare me like that! But no, he seems like a real character huh?” Marie and Bill walked out together behind a few of the other guys.

All three platoons were lined up in formation out front of the barracks, Marie and Bill were standing next to each other, most of the men off in their little world waiting for something to happen. Sobel yelled something about being at the position of attention that got everyone to stiffen up, snap their heads forward all that jazz. He was going down the line picking men off like flies, by the time he stopped in front of Marie she knew there was no way he was gonna skip over her. 

“Name.” Blunt.

“Vesco, Marie G.” All of a sudden Marie was very aware of everything going on in that moment, the sweat dripping down her neck, the gnat that just landed on her hand, the way Sobel’s eyes raked over her, he looked disgusted. 

“What are you doing here Private? Why aren’t you in the med bay over there with a nurse's uniform on?” He snickered to himself. 

“I wanna kill Germans, couldn’t do that if I were a nurse, sir.” Marie kept her poker face, out of her peripheral vision she could see Bill glance over at her. “Oh, shit” written all over his face. 

“Your weekend pass is revoked Private, you’ve also earned yourself two rounds of Currahee today, one with the company and one alone, is that clear?”

“Yes sir.” Marie ran track in school, running Currahee twice would be tough, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for her. 

“Change into your PT gear, we’re running Currahee.” 

“2nd platoon, fall out. We have two minutes.” Lieutenant Winters called out and the platoon was back in the barracks within seconds. 

Marie got to her bed and angrily took her uniform off revealing her PT outfit underneath, the shorts way shorter than she would’ve liked, and to confirm her distaste for the outfit when she turned around half of the platoon was looking at her like they had never seen legs before. 

“They’re fucking legs, calm down.” She stormed down the aisle and out of the door, Bill trailing behind her. 

“Eyes to ya selfs fellas.” Bill added on just to stir the pot a bit. 

When the pair got outside they met up with Joe Toye who also seemed to be at the same level of anger as Marie. 

“I hate that fuckin guy.” 

“No shit Joe, let's just get this over with because unlike you boys I have to run this fuckin mountain twice and I’d like to be done before lunch.” Marie made her way to the front of the crowd, where Liebgott and Skip were. 

“Hey Vesco, that comment you made about killing Germans? Nice.” Liebgott gave her a sly smile, which she returned. The company started moving through the camp, Marie remained at the front. 

“Hey Easy company, while you're running don’t worry we’ll take your dames to the movies for ya. Ay Vesco, why don’t ya join us?” 

“Fuck off.” She heard snickers behind her from Easy, Lieb patted her on the shoulder. Marie figured if she was gonna survive three months here she would have to either stay in the shadows or build up some sort of reputation. The former had not worked out so far, so she would go with the latter. 

The company began their ascension of Currahee in formation, but after Sobel's big Hi-Ho Silver skit each man fell into their own pace. Marie led the boys much to their dismay, the only person in front of her was Richard Winters. The two reached the top of Currahee within seconds of each other.

“Good job Marie, keep it moving.” Winters stayed at the top to encourage the men as Marie began her descent. Nine more miles. On her way down she passed the whole company, lucky bastards she thought, had three miles left compared to her nine. 

Sobel stood at the bottom, and Marie wished she could replay the face he made when she was the first one to reach him over and over again. 

“Private Vesco, you wanna stop now? Battalion HQ is right there Vesco, it’s got your name written all over it, sign one paper and you’ll be out of here.” He wanted her to act out, he wanted her to get angry. Instead, she looped back around and headed back up the mountain. 

She could hear Sobel harassing the men who were starting to trickle down to the bottom.

“You just got outrun by a girl Private Perconte…” So on and so forth. 

Not even two minutes into her first mile back up, Marie tripped over herself kicking up a cloud of dirt that got sucked down her throat. She stopped dead in her tracks, hands on her knees coughing up a storm. Most of the boys had reached the bottom by now, but by her luck, Richard Winters was still making his way down after taking extra time at the top. She hadn’t noticed him there until she felt a heavy hand slapping her back trying to help her cough up whatever it was she needed to cough up.

“Alright Vesco, you okay kid?” She rolled up from her knees trying to suck in the dense Georgia air. She nodded her head, wiping the sweat from her forehead to prevent it from stinging her eyes. 

“Yes sir, sorry sir.” She was fully upright now, thankful for the small relief from running even though she now needed an entire canteen of water to wash away the dryness in her throat and chest. 

“Don’t be sorry Private, keep running.” He continued down and she continued up.

Her second run had gone two times slower than the first, but she had made it down in time for lunch, well just barely. 

There was a seat open next to Bill where Marie slammed down her tray of food which she didn’t intend to eat, her appetite from before the run had diminished.

“Heya doll, how was that second go around?” Marie didn’t have to look at him to hear the smirk in his voice. 

“Not now Bill seriously.” 

She pushed her tray forward. “Have at it boys.”

Much to the dismay of Bill, Marie got up to leave the mess hall after deciding to go fill up her canteen outside. On her way out she passed the table that sat Fox company, someone grabbed her arm causing Marie to stumble forward. 

“Hey, baby why ya so upset? Smile a little why don’t ya.” He was talking loud enough so only his table could hear him, he was trying to impress them. Without thinking Maries free hand came up and slapped him, causing the nameless soldier to let her arm go and cradle his face. 

The surrounding tables heard the slap and right before Marie could open the door she heard the same voice speak up again.

“What the fuck you crazy broad, you think you’re gonna get away with that?” 

“Maybe don’t put your hands on me and I won’t slap you again.” Marie was fuming. 

Bill was stood up now making his way over to Marie who was ready to pounce. Most of Easy and Fox were standing watching the scene unfold. Lieutenant Nixon was turned around in his chair with a huge smirk on his face laughing at the antics of the young soldiers, much to the chagrin of Dick who was sat across from him ready to get up in case any more physical contact was made.

Bill reached for Marie, hands on her shoulders pushing her away from the angry Corporal from Fox. 

“Come on let's go Marie.” She still faced the man who had the nerve to speak up once more. 

“Can’t fight your own battles sweetheart?” He looked at his friends sitting next to him who was enjoying his antics. 

“Fuck you asshole! Get off me, Bill!” Marie’s words got quieter as Bill pushed her out of the room, which was a lot harder than he thought it was gonna be. 

Once the commotion had somewhat died down Nixon turned back around in his chair to face Dick. 

“She’s feisty. She's gonna make a fantastic soldier.” 

“She’s gonna get herself into trouble Nix, and if she gets into trouble, Sobel will have my head on a platter.” Dick ran over his options in his head, there were very few. He decided he would just talk to her before their night march. 

On her way back to the barracks Marie caught sight of Sobel who was walking towards her at quite a quick speed. 

“Private Vesco. Lieutenant Colonel Sink has requested your presence at Battalion HQ.” He sounded annoyed. 

“When sir?” The word sir coming out more like a breath than a word.

“Now Private, I suggest you get a move on.”

“Yes sir.”

Two quick knocks on the door and Marie heard a robust, “Enter!” 

“Lieutenant Sobel said you wanted to see me, sir.” 

“At ease Private.” Marie relaxed her shoulders and waited for Colonel Sink to start speaking. 

“Now Miss Vesco, I think it’s very honorable what you’re doing here, not many men have the balls you do, isn’t that right?”

Marie smiled at his choice of words and quickly answered: “Yes sir.”

“Well Private, any of these boys give you some serious trouble you will report it to me or Lieutenant Winters understood? Now this isn’t special treatment I’m given ya, I just can’t have these boys acting like animals.”

“Yes sir, understood.” 

“Alright then get on outta here.” 

With a final “Thank you, sir.” And a salute Marie was out the door, stepping back into the hot air. She knew the company had 30 minutes after lunch before the next training exercise, and even though she pleaded to God to just let her go back to the barracks with no distractions that however wasn’t meant to be. 

Marie tried to get to the barracks quickly as possible but 10 feet from the door and Richard Winters stopped Marie in her tracks. 

“Private Vesco I was looking for you.” He looked at her curiously, asking ‘Where were you?’ without actually asking.

“I was talking to Colonel Sink, sir.” She was totally in trouble, God why did she slap that guy before? 

“You’re not in trouble Marie, I just wanted to have a quick talk with you. You can’t slap anyone else, next time I won't be able to convince Sobel to not tell Sink. If another man puts his hands on you, walk away if you can and bring it to your higher-ups, preferably me or Lieutenant Nixon. Neither of us wants to see you fail, so be smart about what you do and who you hit.” His mini-lecture ended with the tiniest smile, if she wasn't looking so intently at him she would have missed it.

“Yes sir, Sorry about the slapping sir.” 

“Stop saying sorry Private. Remember the next training exercise is in 20 minutes, be ready. Dismissed.” Salutes on either end and they were off in their separate directions. 

She finally melted into her bed, figuring she would start a letter to her family with the 20 minutes of peace she had.


	4. Chapter 4

Sobel had confiscated every letter intended for Marie, he revoked every weekend pass she got, he made her double-time Currahee four times a week, she was made to re-do shooting drills and jump drills three, four, five times over until he was satisfied. To the untrained eye, it seemed as though Sobel was doing this to help Marie become a better soldier, but to the men of Easy, it was evident that he was doing this simply because he didn’t like her. 

The last person who needed extra training in Easy was Marie, and Sobel knew that. He was trying to get her to lash out at him, he was looking for any reason to get her kicked out of the Airborne, but there were no reasons. His spiteful ploy worked in Marie's favor, however. By early July Colonel sink had seen it fit that Marie be promoted to Corporal. Her chevrons had been presented to her by the Colonel himself. The two had formed a sort of friendship, as close to one as there could be between a Colonel and a Corporal. 

Colonel Sink decided Marie reminded him of his daughter, and it was nice to have reminders of home after being away for so long. Every few weeks Sink would call Marie into his office to make sure everything was going smooth, he decided speaking directly to her was the best option as he didn’t trust Sobel would immediately come to him if something were to happen. 

It took Marie quite some time to find her groove within Easy, fitting in with a group of tameless boys was harder than double-timing Currahee in 90-degree weather. At the end of the second month of training at Toccoa, she often found herself in the company of Bill, the two were practically attached at the hip, Joe Toye, Carwood Lipton, George Luz, and the trio that consisted of Muck, Penkala, and Malarkey. 

That being said, it was hard to be in Easy and not be close to everyone, there were few exceptions. Roy Cobb, for example, hated Marie's guts. He was one of the very few men in Easy that thought she didn't deserve a place in the Army. She figured eventually he would warm up to her, but almost three months into training and it wasn't looking like a friendship would develop anytime soon.

————————————————————————————

Friday night marches were the bane of every Easy Company member's existence. The only time marches were enjoyable was when a soldier would gripe about Sobel to Lieutenant Winters. 

Marie was marching next to Bull Randleman, George Luz on his other side, and through the first few miles of the march he huffed and puffed with every step he took. 

“Ima say something.” He finally whispered to Marie, Luz, and anyone who was within earshot. 

Luz spoke up “To who?” 

“Lieutenant Winters.” 

George peeped past Bull's large frame to look at Marie when the two made eye contact they started snickering to themselves. 

The man in question almost unnoticeably peeked his head over his shoulder, asking what Bull wanted.

“How come we're the only company marching every Friday night, 12 miles, full pack in the pitch dark?” 

Bull’s voice was loud compared to the mindless crunching of leaves and grass everyone had been hearing for the past hour.

“Why do you think, Private Randleman?”

“Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir.” 

Without a moment's hesitation Winters sent a comedic blow Bulls way.

“Lieutenant Sobel doesn’t hate Easy Company, Private Randleman. He just hates you.”

A wave of laughter blanketed the company, a much-needed reprieve from the dower silence that came before and would come after the interaction between Bull and Lieutenant Winters.

One last “Thank you sir!” from Bull and a few comments from the men and focus on the march had settled over them yet again. 

The march continued for another hour or so without anymore talking. The company was relieved to be back on campgrounds, rushing to the showers all at once. 

Marie had to wait until all the boys were done so she could pop in for a quick five minutes to use up the little bit of hot water that was left. They had offered many times to shower after her but she assured them it didn’t bother her. While she said that mostly out of truth, she also didn’t want to cause a rift between her and some of the men who would get angry if they had to wait for a woman to shower before they could. 

So every night the boys would finish and Bill would stand watch for her outside of the showers to make sure nobody from another company snuck in on her. Tonight the same routine repeated itself. 

After her quick shower, Marie found herself with Bill, Joe, the trio, Lieb and Chuck Grant. All eight of them had smokes in their hands, sitting out on the small porch-type structure in front of the barracks.

Their conversation had been all over the place most recently landing on the topic of home. 

Marie turned behind her to ash her cigarette when the spotlight moved from Lieb to her. 

“So, Vesco, Where's home for you?” Chuck asked. Besides with Bill and Joe, Marie had been fairly private about her personal life, not on purpose the questions just hadn’t been asked until now.

“Brooklyn. Born and raised. My parents immigrated here from Italy while my mother was pregnant with me.” Only a few draws left on her cigarette Marie made the decision to finish it quickly and light another.

“Italy huh? You speak any Italian?” All the boys that were gathered together waited eagerly for her answer.

“Fluently.” This was fun.

“Say somethin’ like ‘Hi my name is Marie.’” Malarkey received a slap on the head from Skip.

“There are so many things she could say and you ask her to say that? God, you really are as stupid as they say.” 

A quick laugh from Marie before she vocalized the short phrase.

“Ciao il mio nome è Marie.” She settled further into her chair before speaking up once more.

“Thanks for the short phrase Mal, that's all the Italian you're getting out of me boys.” A few groans directed towards Don at his simple choice of words were heard through the circle.

“One more question, my cigarette is almost out.” 

Joe Toye who was quiet for the most part asked about her siblings. She told them about Michael, her oldest brother, the one with whom she was closest to who had joined the Marines a year before Marie joined the Army. Also about Vincenzo, they were close but she was almost five years his elder which provided a bit of a disconnect between the two, but it was hardly noticeable in the way the two would banter back and forth. 

One more question turned into two and then three, and for 10 minutes after her second cigarette gave out the boys sat intently listening to some story about Michael and her from when they were growing up. It was obvious just from the way Marie spoke that she looked up to Michael. Growing up they had been two peas in a pod, he was the one person who had never let Marie down no matter the circumstances. 

Her story ended and once again the interest was shifted to someone else on the porch. Marie tuned out the conversation they were having, something about Toye growing up in Pennsylvania. When the conversation ceased Marie pulled herself out of the chair, a few of the boys looking up at her.

“I'm gonna turn in boys, see ya tomorrow.” With a quick smile and a few ‘goodnights’ from the boys in return, she made her way to her bed. The room was quiet, the only sound heard was pen touching paper. 

Marie laid on her back with her hands behind her head, she dozed off to thoughts of home, her brother was the last thing that crossed her mind, eyebrows creased, she was constantly worried about him. She told herself that if anyone would make it through the war, it would be him. Marie silently worked herself up thinking about the fighting that was going on over where he was. He would be fine. She uttered that mantra a few more times before her mind finally shut down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so incredibly sorry this chapter took so long to get posted!!! I had a rough week and a rough time writing it in general. Forgive me if this one is all over the place I had some serious motivational issues lol.


	5. Chapter 5

He was dead, his bloody figure littered with bullet holes, gushing out enough blood to make a river. Marie was crouched over his body screaming his name trying to plug each wound but it was useless. Her two hands were no use against the liquid coursing out of him. No use against the evil around them. 

Marie shot up in her bed, hands clutching her chest, sweat beading up along her hairline. Jesus Christ. It was a dream. She silently got out of bed and put her jacket around her, checking her watch it read 3:13 am. Great. She tiptoed out of the room after grabbing a pack of smokes from her footlocker. Taking a seat on the steps, her shaky hands coming up to light her cigarette. Her head fell between her arms that laid on her thighs. 

“Corporal, what are you doing out here? Its- God it's half past three” Lieutenant Nixon stopped in front of Marie startling her a bit.

“Bad dream, sir.” Marie looked up at him, his hands were low on his hips as he looked around like he was on the hunt for something.  
He re-focused on Marie in front of him, squinting to see her in the dark. The two were silent for a few moments before Nixon broke the silence. 

“Alright well get back inside you’re not supposed to be out here this late.” 

“Sure thing sir.” Marie crushed her cigarette underneath her untied boots, and she dusted off the back of her pants, ridding them of any dirt that was on the steps. Walking back into the barracks, she didn’t bother taking her boots or jacket off knowing she’d just have to put them back on in two hours. Laying back down in bed any chance of falling back asleep was effectively ruined by the slowly rising sun. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 1942  
Fort Benning, GA

“Let's go, let's go!” Sobel stood on the jump platform, able to see every move his men made as they jumped from the makeshift airplane door. 

Jump training had finally begun after three months at Camp Toccoa. The 506th PIR was at Fort Benning, Georgia, it was evident that Easy Company was the most competent company there. Sobel took immense pride in the fact that Easy was the only company able to skip the first stage of training, and honestly, Marie didn’t disagree with his pride. For all his flaws he did a fairly good job of shaping the company exactly how he wanted. 

Marie stood behind Alex Penkala in line, waiting to make the less than six-foot jump to the ground. Marie was nervous to jump out of the wooden door, she was nervous she would mess up and be subject to Sobel’s taunts and humiliation tactics. 

“1,000; 2,000; 3,000; 4,000” Penkala’s small jump was over without a word from Sobel.

‘Fuck fuck fuck’ Marie lept off the platform, counting out loud and going through the motions of an actual jump. Her landing was perfect, she did everything she was supposed to and yet it wasn’t good enough for Sobel. 

“You need to count louder corporal, and watch that landing you don’t wanna break an ankle do you?” He didn’t even look her in the eye when he addressed her. 

“No sir.” Marie gave him a subtle death stare as she walked back to the line. Her obvious irritation not going unnoticed by the whole of 2nd platoon who she was in line with. 

Not far away, Lieutenants Winters and Nixon were training with the rest of the officers in the 506th, the pair occasionally looking over at Easy as they made their practice jumps. Dick turned his head when he heard Sobel say something about counting louder. Noticing he was talking to Marie Dick let out a long breath. 

Shaking his head he muttered under his breath causing Nixon to look over at him with a questioning look on his face. 

“What's got you all angry.” Lewis chuckled at the flustered face of his friend.

“Not angry Lew, just frustrated. I mean he told her to count louder for Petes sake, it's unnecessary.” 

Lewis looked over to Marie where she was chatting with Penkala waiting for their next jump. 

“Well from the looks of it she could give two fucks, I think you're more worked up than she is.” 

After a slight pause, Nixon started up again.

“Listen, everyone here knows damn well that she’s one of the best of the enlisted, hell she's even better than some of the officers when it comes to training. Sobel’s just trying to throw her off her game, he’s been trying to do that since the first day at Toccoa and he has yet to be successful. She knows what she's doing Dick.”

“You’re right Lew, it's just frustrating seeing someone with such an aptitude for all this to not be recognized for it.” 

“It's still early Dick, we haven't even been to war yet.” Lew sent a playful wink to his friend and the pair was once again focused solely on the long day of training that lay ahead of them.

After taking time to wash all the pig guts off of her from training, Marie and Bill made their way to the Mess tent walking behind Joe and Lip, the two immersed in a conversation of their own. Easy had training later tonight so Marie decided to write a letter to her brother now knowing that she would crash as soon as she got to the barracks. A few sheets of paper in her hand, Marie patted around her chest pockets noticing she had forgotten a pen.

“Bill, you don’t happen to have a pen on you do you?” 

“I don’t, sorry doll.” 

“No that’s fine, I’m gonna go grab one from my footlocker. I'll meet you in there.” She didn’t want to disturb the conversation between Joe and Carwood to ask if they had a pen so she decided to take the short walk back. 

She spotted Lieutenant Nixon and Sobel’s runner exiting the barracks just as she had made it to the short path that led up to the front steps.

“You going in there, corporal?” Nixon asked Marie as she passed by him. 

“Yes sir.” 

“Alright just give it a few minutes, Captain Sobels in there with Lieutenant Winters at the moment.” 

“Thank you for the heads up sir.” A passing salute from Marie as Nixon continued his walk to the mess tent. 

Marie was leaning up against the railing when Sobel swung the door open just barely noticing her presence. The scowl on his face ever so present, he looked down at Marie as she stood tall in her spot waiting for him to return her salute. He stormed down the stairs not paying her any mind.

Marie brushed off the encounter with the newly appointed Captain. Quickly entering the barracks which she expected to be empty, thinking Lieutenant Winters exited through the back already.

She paused where she stood when she noticed him still in the room. His back turned towards her.

“Oh, Lieutenant Winters, sir, sorry I didn’t know you were still in here.” He swung around slightly startled by her.

“No worries corporal, I was just leaving.” He passed by Marie as the two shared a smile, she stood in place until he spoke up from behind her. 

“Oh, Marie, excellent job during training today. Your hard work is paying off.” One quick nod and a small smile and he disappeared down the steps. 

Marie stood with a smirk on her face, her cheeks red and for a moment she forgot why she was even in the barracks in the first place. Sure, everyone in Easy encouraged each other during training, but to hear praise from her superior officer made Marie finally feel like she had made the right decision in joining the Airborne. 

With a newfound pep to her step, Marie bounded down the three steps that led outside and made her way back to the mess tent. Pen in hand of course.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe

There were only a few more weeks of training at Fort Benning and then the 506th would be sent to Camp Mackall where everyone would, hopefully, earn their jump wings. Jump training intensified, considering they would have to jump out of actual planes soon. This usually meant longer nights but with an incoming storm, Battalion gave everyone the rest of the day off following afternoon training. 

It started to downpour during dinner. Marie was sitting between Bill and Joe, across from them was Joe Liebgott, Skinny Sisk and Grant. A game of poker was going on between the six of them, which Marie was losing. Although everyone was done eating nobody wanted to take the long walk back to the barracks in the rain and thunder, so the mess tent stayed loud and filled with soldiers. 

Marie took one look at her hand and realized there was no way in hell she was going to win, instead she flipped her cards up on the table and pulled out a pack of smokes and her lighter. 

“I fold. I’m gonna go for a quick smoke, deal me in the next round I'll be back by then.” Marie got up without a second thought and headed out. The boys barely noticed she left, their game finally getting interesting.

Marie walked along the side of the tent to the small overhang where she could smoke without getting rained on. Halfway through her cigarette Marie threw it to the ground and stomped it out, getting tired of the rain and figuring the next round of their game would be starting soon. 

Just as Marie was about to round the corner to head back in her shoulder bumped into someone. She apologized not realizing who it was at first. 

“I knew I’d find you out here.” She looked for his last name on his uniform even though his voice gave away his identity. Stewart. The man from Fox Company she slapped in Toccoa.  
Marie backed up to get out of his reach, but she wasn’t quick enough as he grabbed her arm the same way he had a few months ago. 

‘Not this again’ Marie thought to herself. 

“You thought I forgot? Huh? You thought I forgot how you embarrassed me?” He snarled in her face.

“Listen, that was five months ago. Can’t we just forget about it?” Marie tried to pull out of his grip, but he was relentless. 

“Forget about it? I got busted down to private because of you. I see you’re a corporal now, who’s dick did you have to suck for that? Sobel’s?” His free hand caught Marie in the ribs. She let out a wheeze.

Her knee flew up aiming for his groin, but her balance was lost as he let go of her arm. Marie dropped to one knee in the mud. When she stood up, his fist slammed into her temple. The punch caught her in the wrong place and was hard enough to knock her out cold. Half of her body was under the overhang, the other half laying in the mud and rain. The private delivered two hard kicks to her midsection. 

He crouched down to her head, she was still out but he whispered to her anyways. 

“Women only belong in the kitchen. Whore.” the private walked off into the rain 

Joe Liebgott checked his watch. 

“Don’t ya think Marie should be back by now?” He asked the group who sat waiting to start their next game.

Bill also looked down at his watch noticing that it had been well over twenty minutes since Marie had left. 

“Yeah she smokes pretty quick usually. I don't know what's taking her so long.” Bill looked up at Lieb who stood up from the bench. 

“I’m gonna go out and check on her.” Lieb walked around the table quickly and down the aisle towards the door. He heard Bill yell, “Tell her to hurry up” as he exited the room. When he got outside the rain hindered his view significantly, but with the little bit of light peeking through from the lamp posts, he could tell she wasn't anywhere out past the front of the tent. 

“Marie? The next games about to start. What's taking ya so long?” Joe squinted his eyes as he turned the corner. Marie was on her knees, her left hand holding the ground and her right arm was wrapped around her torso. She coughed spitting up bits of blood.

“Holy shit Marie.” She looked up and was greeted by a worried Joe. His words were muffled due to ringing in her ear. Marie unwrapped her arm from her torso and latched onto Joe who had stood up and grabbed her by the waist. She let out a hiss when his hand pressed into her side where she had been kicked. 

Her legs felt fine but when she tried to stand they buckled underneath her, she was still light-headed from being knocked out not minutes before. 

“Alright come on we're gonna get you to the doc.” He hauled her up into a cradle-like position determining she was in no state to walk. 

“I'm fine Joe I can walk.” Her words were slurred together. Although Marie insisted she was fine she made no effort to fight her way out of Joe’s grip. They were out past the front of the mess tent when Bill walked out in search of the two. 

He sprinted towards them concern gracing his features.

“Jesus Christ what happened to her?” Distress laced through his words.

“I don’t know, she keeps going in and out, I need to get her to doc you go back in and tell Lieutenant Winters.” 

Bill ran back into the mess hall spotting Winters quickly sitting at a table with Lieutenants Nixon and Speirs.

“Lieutenant Winters sir.” Bill stood in front of the table, all three officers turned their attention to Bill.

“What is it Guarnere?” Winters's eyebrows were bunched together in question.

“It's Marie sir, Corporal Vesco. I’m not sure what happened, Liebgott found her outside and he's taking her to the med bay.” 

Without hesitation, Dick stood up abandoning the table.

“Alright let’s go.” And without another word the two headed in the same direction as Joe had a few minutes prior.

Liebgott nudged open the entryway and quickly glanced around for a doctor.

“Anyone in here?” He called out as he laid Marie on the table closest to him. With no answer, Joe opened the door that led to the back room where he spotted Eugene Roe who was sitting entranced by some book about modern medicine. 

“Gene I need you out here.” No questions were asked from Roe as the two made their way out to Marie who was leaning up on her forearms. 

Gene immediately went to her forehead where a nasty bruise was beginning to blossom against the right side of her face and across her eyelid.

“Hey Vesco, ya wanna tell me what happened.” He spoke to her as he waved his finger in front of her face making sure her pupils weren’t blown out.

“You remember that guy from Fox Company that I slapped?” She cleared her throat as the two boys nodded at her question. “Well, I guess this is retaliation.”

Joe sprinted out as soon as he heard that, Marie could only assume he was gonna go find the son of a bitch. 

“Did he get you anywhere else besides your face?” Marie was now sat up, legs hanging off the side of the table.

“Before he knocked me out he punched me in the side, but it hurts so goddamn bad.” 

Roe had Marie take off her jacket and just lift her shirt up on the side where the private punched her. As she was unbuttoning her jacket Bill and Lieutenant Winters came in, both out of breath and wet from the rain. 

“Marie, what the fuck happened?” Bill demanded as he walked over to her, looking at her swollen eye. 

“The bastard from Fox that I slapped wanted retaliation and he got it.” She shrugged her jacket off her shoulders. “Listen, Bill, Lieb stormed off somewhere, go make sure he doesn’t get himself into trouble.” She was in too much pain to deal with an angry Bill right now.

“You sure? I can stay if you want.” In reality, he was itching to find the guy that did this.

“No, go. I'll be fine, it's just a bruise.” Bill was off in a second.

“I'm gonna lift your shirt, Marie.” She pulled her arm out of the way, slightly gasping at the pain the quick movement caused her. She looked behind Gene at Lieutenant Winters who was standing a few feet back, arms crossed over his chest watching Roe’s every move. 

An angry dark red splotch stood out against Marie's skin. Gene felt the forming bruise pushing down lightly, the pain had Marie’s face scrunched up as she bit the inside of her cheek to distract her.

“I know it hurts, but I need to make sure he didn’t break any ribs.” Gene looked up at Marie a few moments later, guilt all over his face.

“I think he might’ve broken a few ribs, Marie. I'm gonna go back and get you ice okay? Sit tight.” Marie thanked Gene as he disappeared into the back somewhere.

Lieutenant Winters walked forwards stopping right in front of Marie, he was so quiet she almost forgot he was in there with her. Marie’s eyes welled up out of frustration and anger more than anything. When she looked up at her superior officer the dam broke and a few tears fell down her cheeks.

“I'm sorry sir, I don’t know why I’m crying.” She wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand quickly.

“Marie.” 

“Yes sir?” 

“Stop saying sorry. You’re crying because you got attacked.” Marie knew Lieutenant Winters worked off of logic and not emotion so for him to be in here with her was nice, she made a mental note to thank him at a later time.

“I should just be happy nothing serious happened, instead I’m sitting here crying. In front of my superior officer nonetheless.” She motioned to him at the end of her sentence.

“Forget about rank for a second. I'm here as a friend now and I'll be here as your Lieutenant later when we talk to Sink.” 

Marie smiled at him, thankful for his presence, no matter his rank she was just glad someone understanding was in here with her. Roe walked back in with one small bag of ice for her face and a larger one for her side. 

“You hold these on. I need to go find the Doctor so he can re-check your ribs okay? You might need an x-ray.” Marie nodded at him.

“Lieutenant Winters, if you wouldn't mind staying in here that would be great sir.”

“Anything you need Eugene.” He said with a slight nod to the medic in training.

It was once again just Marie and Dick in the room alone. 

“Sir,” Marie spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“Uhm, do you think, uhm you could hold the ice on my side? It's just I can't really reach across, and I have to hold the other one on my head-” 

“Sure Marie.” He smiled at her hesitation to ask. 

She handed him the large ice pack, their fingertips lightly brushing together as he grabbed it from the bottom. At this moment he was not Lieutenant Winters. He was Dick Winters, Marie's friend, just a guy helping out his friend. 

He pressed the ice to her side, the cold sensation making her gasp slightly as she adjusted to the feeling. Although Marie was on a table, Dick still stood about two inches taller than her. A vast difference compared to the usual foot he held over her in height. Marie looked at his face noticing everything about it. The smile lines around his mouth, his straight eyebrows, his bright green eyes looking right back at her. And in turn, Dick stood looking at the features of her face he hadn’t noticed before. Her deep brown eyes and arched brows, a shallow Cupid’s bow outlining her lips, the flyaways coming out of her ponytail. Everything. 

He turned his head and let out a small cough.

“Are you doing okay?” One eyebrow raised slightly when he asked.

“Ive been better sir, but I feel a lot better now.” Marie knew whatever was going on right now shouldn’t be going on, and she knew he felt the same way. Dicks hand shifted around the bag of ice, causing his thumb to slip off onto the exposed skin on her side. She instantly felt the touch, but she was unsure if he knew his thumb slipped off the bag. Not that she minded. 

Marie looked down trying to hide the heat that rushed to her cheeks.

The immersion into each other ended as Gene entered the room once again with the head doctor in tow.

Lieutenant Winters jumped at the sudden entrance dropping the bag of ice on the table next to Marie, who snapped her head back up. 

“Thanks for staying with her sir, I've got it from here.” Roe spoke up as he walked over to Marie ready to show the head doctor her injuries.

“Anytime Eugene.” A fleeting smile sent Marie’s way and he was out the door, no doubt going to see if Bill and Lieb had found the guy. 

And Marie was sitting there with a blush on her cheeks. The pain of her ribs being pushed on brought her attention back to Gene who was holding her hand, which she didn’t even know she was squeezing to try and alleviate the pain.

Her face was scrunched up.

“They’re broken alright. Ill need to do X-rays to confirm, but I'm 99% sure they're broken."

Great.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a shortie! Again, sorry it took so long to get out I had some technical difficulties :)

Marie’s two broken ribs were the least of her worries, really. Instead, her nerves swelled more and more every day as she waited to meet with Colonel Sink. She had nothing better to do than sit and wait. Some days she would sit on the steps leading up to the barracks and watch the guys do morning PT and other days she would take walks for hours at a time.

If it were up to Eugene Roe, she would be in bed for four weeks, no walks, no sitting on steps. Only getting up when necessary, but then that was Gene. Marie was more stubborn than he could have wished for. Not even three days passed since she had been beaten up and Marie was following Gene around asking if she could get back to training. 

“Come on Marie, I won't say it again.” Eugene stopped short in front of her and turned around with an exasperated look on his face. 

“I know Gene, I’m just so antsy to get back out there. I feel great, the swellings going down-” 

“It's been three days, you've got four weeks ahead of you before the doctor will even consider clearing you. Now either help me put this inventory away or go rest.” 

Marie snatched the pack of bandages from his hand shooting him a glare while she neatly organized the shelf in front of her. After five or so minutes of silence, a knock was heard from the small entryway. Both Marie and Gene’s heads shot up, seeing Sobel’s runner crouching a bit in the doorway. 

The two stood taller in their spots, as they waited for him to speak. 

“Corporal Vesco, Colonel Sink has requested your presence in his office.” 

“Okay sir, thank you.” With a nod to the man, he made his way out of the med bay. 

As Marie was leaving she heard Gene give a quiet “Good luck” as he was still wrapped up in situating the inventory. Making her way down the path that led to HQ, Marie heard quick footsteps behind her. She turned around noticing Bill was making his way over.

“Ay, Marie where ya goin'?” He draped his arm over her shoulders as the two walked in sync.

“I have my meeting with Sink right now. Don’t hold me up Bill I know how chatty you can get.” She nudged him in the chest, a smile on her lips, a laugh coming from his.

“Alright, well, meet up with me after, I'll save you a spot next to me in the mess hall for lunch.” 

“Yeah, I'll tell you all about it.” Marie quickened her pace not wanting to leave the Colonel waiting any longer. Stepping into the building, she noticed Lieutenant Winters sitting outside of Sinks office, his eyes meeting hers as he stood up. 

“Sir.” She greeted him.

“Marie, I just spoke to him. It should be a quick and easy conversation, in and out. He’s ready whenever you are.” He looked down at Marie who was facing the door, fingers wringing together. 

Two quick raps on the wooden door and an orotund “Enter” were heard before Marie stepped into his office. Winters sat back down waiting for Marie’s exit.

“Corporal Vesco, how’s everything?” 

“Besides the ribs, sir, I can’t complain.” 

“Right, well why don't you take a seat Marie and we’ll get right on it.” He smiled at her from beneath his thin mustache, crossing his hands in front of himself.

“Marie, I need you to tell me exactly what happened that night so I can get a full report, and you need to decide if you would like a trial or not understood?” 

“Yes sir.” Marie felt her saliva get thick, until this point she had kept calm about the situation. Time and time again she told the boys she wasn’t phased by it, ‘What happens, happens’ she would say. And then the subject would be dropped. 

She hadn’t realized that this was a bigger deal than she made it out to be until she was forced to recount the entire night.

“Whenever you’re ready, corporal.” There was a man at a small desk beside them getting ready to type up everything Marie said. 

Outside of the office, Dick sat weaving his cap through his fingers, he could hear Marie describing to Sink the events that unfolded that night through the thin wall. Lewis Nixon walked into HQ, looking for Dick specifically. 

“She in there?” Lew sat next to his friend, leaning back on his chair. 

“Yeah, yeah just went in.” He looked up from his hands and folded his hat on his leg to stop playing with it. 

“Stop thinking so much.” Lew scolded him, a playful look settling on his face

Dick looked over, shooting a tired look his way.

“I’m just going over the possible outcomes of all this Lew. I mean what if she doesn’t choose to do a trial? He gets to walk free?” 

“First of all, I don’t know why you’re so worked up over this. Second of all, you think Sink would let him just get away with what he did? No way in hell Dick.” 

Silence fell over the two as they waited for Marie to finish her meeting. Neither of them having to be anywhere for the time being. 

As Marie finished telling Sink what she had remembered he let out a sigh, shaking his head he dismissed the stenographer from the room. 

“One more question and then you’ll be on your way. Would you like to request a trial by court-martial?” He looked down at his paperwork, pen hovering over the yes box.

“No sir.” Sink looked up to Marie for a millisecond before shifting his pen down and checking off the no box.

“Alright, you take care of yourself now. Heal up quick so we can get you back out with the men.” 

“Yes sir. Thank you.” She exited the room with a salute. Closing the door behind her she looked over to see both Lieutenants Winters and Nixon looking her way. 

The three of them made their way out to the front of the building.

“How was it?” 

“Quick and easy, just like you said, sir.” 

Nixon spoke up from beside her, “Did you request a trial?”

“Nope.” Nix looked over at Dick who was shaking his head.

“Marie, no trial means there could be a chance of no punishment. Are you sure that’s what you want?” Winters asked.

“If I may speak freely sir?” She paused waiting for his approval. “What I want is for this clusterfuck of a situation to be put in the past. A trial by court-martial would drag this out for so much longer. The only thing I want to be focused on is getting back to training with the boys. Now if I may, Bill’s holding a spot for me in the mess hall.” Dick sent an unenthusiastic salute her way which she returned before she was on her way to eat.

“Well she spoke freely, that’s for sure.” Nix was smiling.

“I thought you were bad enough, now I have to deal with her too?” 

“She’s broken out of her shell, back in Toccoa she wouldn’t say two words to either of us. I think you need to deal with more people like me and her, ya know to keep you alert.” 

Dick scoffed into the open air as the two made their way to the mess hall. Following the same direction Marie had just taken.


	8. Chapter 8

Friday rolled around and being that the 506th would be going to Camp Mackall the following Monday everyone was given a weekend pass. The boys were still training, and Marie was still taking walks and sitting in bed writing letters. Her black eye faded into yellow and brown bruises, much less violent looking than the deep purple and blue that it was only a week prior. 

Marie intently watched the opening of the Mess tent, waiting for Gene to walk in. It had been exactly four weeks to the day since she was beaten up and frankly, she was more than ready to get back to training. 

“Marie, ya know the saying a watched pot never boils?” Bill leaned across the table closer to her. 

“Yeah. What are you gettin at?” She didn’t look away from the entrance.

“Well, just cuz you’re watchin’ that door doesn’t mean Roe is gonna magically show up.” 

“First off, that was a horrible analogy. Second, I know that, but I wanna catch him before he gets his food and sits down. I can’t wait any longer I'm going crazy Bill.” She finally looked away from the door and at Bill who was looking at her like she had three heads.

“Are you kiddin, I would kill to have four weeks off of this bullshit. Hey, that's four less weeks you had to deal with Sobel.” Frank Perconte spoke up from next to Bill.

Marie let out a laugh at his statement, her eyes moving back up to the door right as Roe walked in. She popped up from her seat and stepped over the bench.

“Gene! Hey, long time no talk buddy.” She slung her arm over the medics' shoulders, effectively stopping him in his tracks. 

“We talked yesterday. And before you say anything I already scheduled a time for you to meet with the doctor.” 

“You’re the best, Gene, seriously.” Marie held him by the shoulders now, arms extended in front of her. 

“8:30 you gotta go see him. If you get cleared you can start back up on Monday when we get to Mackall.” 

“Thanks, Genie.” She left him with a smile as she bounced back to her seat next to George Luz. 

“Wow Marie, why are you so happy?” George asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Oh shut up George, you try getting your ribs broken.” 

“Yeah, no thanks. Anyways what time are ya seeing the doctor?” 

“8:30. That's what, in like an hour?” She drummed her fingers on the table to a random beat.

Bill lifted his sleeve to look at his watch.

“That’s in like 15 minutes, Marie.” She grabbed his arm, twisting it so she could look at his watch.

“No way. It's already that late?”

“Yes, now give me my arm back,” Bill grunted in discomfort. 

“Sorry Bill.” She let go of him, a sheepish look crossing her features. 

Ten minutes later Marie was heading to the med bay. Hands in pockets, fingers crossed that her x-ray would be clear. She continued walking in the right direction, but her mind wandered to the possible outcome that she wasn’t cleared. What then? Mackall was her one chance to make everything final and become an official paratrooper along with the rest of her company. 

She was knocked out of her deep thinking to move around what she thought was a lamppost, but what turned out to be Lieutenant Winters.

“Oh shit, sorry sir I thought you were a lamp post.” Marie rubbed her forehead trying to hide her embarrassed face.

“Good morning to you too corporal. Where are you headed?” 

“The med bay sir.” She squinted up at him, putting a hand to her head to block out the sun. 

“Ah, well I won't hold you up any longer.” 

“Thank you, sir. Well I mean you weren’t really holding me up-” He jumped in before she could start rambling.

“Corporal, I get it. No need to explain yourself.” 

“Right. Sorry, sir.” A lazy salute between the two and they were back off to their different destinations. Dick looked over his shoulder.

“Oh and Corporal? Stop saying sorry.” He turned back around without another word. Marie figured if she had a penny for every time he said that to her she would be rich. 

Stepping into the med bay she wiped her sweaty hands on her pants before heading towards backroom for the doctor. Knocking on the door, it opened right before she could get a third knock in.

“Good Morning Sir.” A grin was set on Marie's lips.

“Corporal.” He nodded back at her. “How are you feeling today?”

“Very good sir.” Marie took a seat on an open table.

“That’s good to hear, how's the pain 1-10?”  
Marie began unbuttoning her jacket leaving her in a white tank top. “At the beginning of the week I would say a two or three, but today its a one.”

“Great, I just need you to lift your shirt on that side. I'm gonna poke around a bit and then get to your x-ray.” 

Not an hour later the doctor emerged from the back room. 

“Well corporal, it looks like your ribs have healed fully. There might be some pain still there, just from bruising and whatnot, but I'm gonna give you the go-ahead to begin training again.” 

“Thank you, sir.” Marie hopped down from the table.

“Take care of yourself, corporal.”

“You as well sir.” And with that she was out the door, heading back to the barracks. 

Eleven hours later, the boys had finished up for the day. The barracks were noisy as everyone changed into their dress uniforms. Marie grabbed her uniform heading out to the latrines to change, the light exercise she had been doing kept her muscle from deteriorating which she was grateful for being that the uniform was already slightly big on her. Skirts were reserved for the nurses so Marie wore the same pants, jacket, and boots as everyone else. 

Looking in the mirror after changing, she ran her fingers through her dark hair. Noticing the length fell just below her shoulders, she reminded herself to ask Lieb for a haircut sometime over the weekend. She tried to smooth out her wild curls, pinning up the sides. Smiling at her reflection in approval. 

Walking back into the barracks she noticed Bill sitting on the foot of his bed. 

“Don’t you clean up nice!” Standing up he looked Marie over, hands settling on his hips.

“I could say the same for you. Now come on I wanna celebrate.” 

“Celebrate what?” 

“Me getting cleared. Let’s go, I need a drink.” 

“Yes ma’am.” The two walked the path to the opening of the camp, catching a ride with Toye and Luz who were waiting for them.

After some small talk and a 15 minute drive, they pulled up to a small bar just outside of Cusseta, GA. The four of them made their way inside pushing through the dense crowd.

“What d’you boys want? First rounds on me.” Marie mentally wrote each of their orders down, striding over to an opening at the bar. After reciting the four orders to the bartender she stayed leaning on the countertop occasionally tapping her fingers against the wood. 

“Corporal, I heard the good news.” Marie looked over to see Lieutenant Nixon, drink in hand yet seemingly waiting for another.

“Yes sir, I'm excited to get back with the boys.” She looked at the two beers that were placed in front of her, still waiting for the other ones. 

“I’m sure.” he paused to give the bartender his order. “One ice water.” 

Marie gave him a sort of sideways look questioning his drink of choice. 

“It’s not for me, it's for Dick. He doesn’t drink. I don't know how, but he doesn’t.” Marie nodded at Nixon’s words, hardly being able to hear him over the noise and the slur in his voice. 

The last two drinks she was waiting on were set in front of her. Leaving money at the bar she motioned over for Bill to help her carry them over to their table.

“Have a good night, sir.” Marie smiled at Nixon who sent a crooked one her way. 

Grabbing the ice water from the countertop, Nix headed back to the table he shared with Dick and Ronald Speirs.

“Ya know Dick it wouldn’t kill you to talk to her.” 

“I do talk to her.” He said curtly trying to end the conversation before it even began.

“Oh come on, you know what I mean. Ron, you know what I mean right?” Speirs just smiled into his glass as he took a sip of beer, silently refusing to join the conversation. 

“You’re drunk Nix.” 

“I might be drunk, but at least I don’t have a crush.” At this point, everything that came out of his mouth was solely to annoy Dick. 

“We’re not in middle school Nix. And even if I did like her, I’m her superior officer nothing would or could ever happen.” His poker face stayed on perfectly, not revealing any emotion that could prove Lew right. 

“You keep telling yourself that.” Nix patted him on the shoulder. 

The conversation switched to that of a lighter subject, but Dick wasn’t really listening. He was focused on the game of darts going on at the back of the crowded room, watching Marie and George battle for a pack of smokes. 

He brought his eyes down to look at the water in front of him, the glass wet with condensation. They were preparing for war, that was the most important thing right now.


	9. Chapter 9

Two Weeks Later

“Do we feel like we're ready to be Army paratroopers?” Everyone who was crowded around let out a hefty, “Yes, sergeant!” all the members of Easy enraptured with the idea of finally becoming paratroopers. 

Marie packed and re-packed her chute multiple times the night before their five jumps. She was always one to explore the what-ifs of a situation, and there were a lot when it came to jumping out of airplanes. Her anxiety woke her up at 2:39 am, seven hours before their first scheduled jump. 

Thirty minutes later Marie was still laying in bed wide awake. Going over the day in her head she remembered Vest handing her a letter earlier. Sitting up quickly she quietly rummaged through her footlocker pulling out the thin envelope. Being that it was too dark in the barracks she went out to the back, making sure nobody would see her out there.

The letter was almost six pages front and back. The pages were dirty, the pencil was smudged, more than half of the letter randomly switched between Italian and English, but it was a letter. A few tears escaped Marie’s eyes as she read the final words on the paper. 

Until next time, Michael. 

The first time in over a year she had received anything from him. He wrote the same way he spoke. He wrote about his company and all his friends, he wrote about how proud he was of Marie for enlisting with the WIIAC, the six pages of writing covered everything under the sun. 

His familiar hand-writing and the Italian scrawled across the pages made Marie feel home-sick, she missed her parents, she missed speaking Italian every day, she missed Emily and her old secretary job. Yet, at the same time, she felt just as at home as she did in New York. Easy Company had become her family, albeit the most dysfunctional one ever. 

She stayed quiet as she walked back up the few steps into the barracks, making sure she didn’t wake anyone up. Tucking the letter under her pillow, she laid back down not bothering to pull her sheets back up. The June heat infiltrated the room leaving a heavy feeling on her skin. Closing her eyes she drifted off, but after what felt like a thirty-second sleep it was time to get up and get ready. 

Marie sat next to Chuck in the plane, directly across from Bill who seemed to be nodding off. Marie stretched her leg out into the aisle as far as it could go, trying to nudge Bill to wake him up. 

His head shot up looking around in a sleepy daze. 

“Why did you kick me?” Bill gave Marie the stink eye.

“I hardly touched you. You were falling asleep though, didn’t want you to get in trouble.” All conversation ceased as the loud rumble from the plane engines started up. Marie sat straighter in her seat, picking at the skin around her nails. 

“Stand up! Hook up!” Marie stood behind Chuck, making sure he was set during the equipment check.

“Sound off for equipment check!” The jumpmaster yelled making sure everyone could hear his orders. 

Marie felt Bill on her shoulder “Three okay!”

“Two okay!” The light turned green and Chuck was out of the door. Marie stood gripping the sides of the opening.

“Go!” And she went. 

Marie looked up to see her parachute fully deployed above her, she counted in her head the same way she was taught to do in Toccoa. She closed her eyes for a quick second taking in everything. The smell, the feel of the air, the sight of the ground beneath her. It was exhilarating. Marie watched below her, feeling her feet touch the ground. Popping her chute off she stood in her spot for a moment before running back to the meetup area. 

“Holy shit Bill! That was the most amazing thing I've ever done.” She practically jumped on the man, adrenaline coursing through every inch of her body. Bill smiled at her giddiness, agreeing with everything she said. 

“Four more and we’re paratroopers. Can you believe that?” Joe Toye joined them as they began their walk back to re-pack their parachutes for the next jump. 

“This time one year ago I was workin’ some shitty secretary job three blocks down from my house, and now I’m jumping outta planes. How fuckin crazy is that.” The boys nodded along with her, laughing at her choice of words.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as Joe had said before, four more jumps and they were finally paratroopers. Everyone was presented with their jump wings during a fairly quick ceremony, and then they were off to the bar to celebrate.

Marie walked to the bar with Bill, Joe, and Lieb. Bill and Lieb immediately split off to go sit at the table where most of the guys already were. Joe and Marie went to the bar spotting George behind it passing out drinks. 

“Marie, what’ll it be?” She could tell he already had a nice buzz going, not unlike anyone else in the room. "Hey, that rhymes."

“Just a beer Luz, whatever ya got.” She smiled at him as he whisked around to get her drink. 

Marie leaned her back up against the bar, raking her eyes across the room stopping when she spotted Winters, Nixon, and the new Lieutenant, Welsh sitting at a table together in the back. She could tell Nixon and Welsh were buzzed, but she noticed a glass of ice water in front of Winters which made her smile to herself. Her focus was pulled away from them as she heard George doing his best Sobel impression.

Craning her neck to look at George, who had just finished his bit she giggled as Joe leaned towards him asking for another drink. 

After another beer and four shots that the three of them took together, Marie could feel her head start to spin. The music abruptly stopped, and Marie did everything in her power to not fall over when Strayer yelled, “Ten hut!” that order quickly followed by Sink entering the room.

“Well at ease, paratroopers. Good evening, Easy company.”

“Evening sir!”

To be quite honest Marie wasn’t listening to Sink’s mini-speech, she was more focused on keeping her wits about her. She was a lightweight, that fact being obvious to Joe who held her up by her arm, trying to keep her upright for the duration of his speech. 

Ten or so minutes later Sink had finished making his rounds, Joe left Marie at the bar with George who was still busy handing out drinks to whoever wanted them. In an attempt to dampen her spinning head Marie stacked her arms on the counter, putting her head on her forearms. 

“Jesus Christ George, what did ya give her?” She felt a hand patting her shoulder.

“Bill, your dear friend here seems to be a lightweight.” George snickered as he watched Marie pick her head up. 

“Who are you callin’ a lightweight?” Marie tried to make her face look as mean as possible but all she could muster was a pathetic pout and bunched up eyebrows.

“Get her a glass of water George.” 

“Here ya go, one glass of water for the lightweight.” Marie scowled up at him, but he paid no mind going to the other end of the bar to talk to some of the other Easy men down there.

What with the glass of water and being that it had almost been an hour since her last drink, Marie felt a bit more sobered up. Bill had since gone to play a game of darts with a few men, and Marie made her way outside. She figured fresh air would be good for her. As soon as she stepped out of the tent Marie felt better than she did all-night.

She took time to light a cigarette, looking up at the stars as she took her first few drags. The sound of boots hitting gravel knocked Marie out of her trance, looking over she saw Lieutenant Winters striding towards her. 

“Evening, sir.” She nodded towards him.

“Good evening, Marie.” He stood next to her, hands clasped behind his back. The two of them had their necks craned up looking at the sky. Marie was the first to break the silence.

“Can you believe we were actually up there today?” Marie asked the question rhetorically.

“Corporal.” Winters’s voice brought her back to reality. 

“Yes sir?”

“Colonel Sink has seen it fit to promote you, to sergeant. He asked me to do the honors.” 

The words coming out of Dick’s mouth sobered Marie up almost completely, she stood in disbelief. She would've been happy if she stayed a corporal for the rest of the war, so this was a shock to her.

“As a sergeant, you will be a non-commissioned officer in Easy company.” Dick handed her the new chevrons that she had to sew onto her uniform. “Congratulations, Marie.” 

“Thank you, sir. To be honest, I never would’ve expected this.”

“Sergeant, you’re one of the best soldiers in this company, stop underestimating yourself.” He said it like a warning, but she knew how his words were meant to be perceived. Marie stayed silent as Dick spoke once more.

“Enjoy your night, remember to drink water.” Marie let out a loud laugh as he turned around, leaving her with an incredibly boyish smile. She watched his shoulders shake as he walked back inside. 

After finishing her cigarette Marie headed back inside, hoping Bill was still playing darts. She was ready to win.


	10. Chapter 10

“So, tell me about the girl.” Harry Welsh was the newest officer that had joined Easy right before they earned their wings. He, Nixon and Winters had all taken advantage of their weekend passes, opting to spend their time in Atlanta. 

“Who? Marie?” Nixon laughed at Harry’s straightforwardness. At her name, Dick perked up a bit. He was getting tired of being surrounded by drunk soldiers all the time, by soldiers he meant Nix.

“Yeah, Sergeant Vesco. How crazy is that, a female sergeant.” Harry shook his head taking a rather large sip from his beer.

“Well.” Nix started, racking his brain. “During the first week of training, she hit a corporal from Fox company.” 

“No shit! What did he do to her?” Harry was all ears.

“I’m not sure really, probably said something stupid. Whatever it was she wasn't happy. Bill Guarnere diffused the situation pretty quickly.” Lew sat quietly for a second, glancing at Dick knowing that he was gonna kill him for his next remark. 

“Oh, and Dick is in love with her.” At this Dick’s head shot up, almost choking on his water his hand flew up to his mouth. 

“He tries to deny it but I can see right through him.” Lew patted the sputtering redhead on his shoulder.

“Hell, Dick I've known you for a week and I can tell from that reaction alone.” Harry teased him.

“I'm not in love with her or anybody for that matter.” He spoke frankly on the matter. 

“God Dick, I know we're preparing for war and all that shit, but for once relax. Pretend, for a moment, we're not in the middle of training. We’re just three friends in a bar.” Nixon finished the rest of his liquor, he wasted no time in going back up to the bar.

“You know, I didn’t think I liked Kitty at first either. And now we're getting married.” Harry leaned back in the booth crossing his arms across his chest, letting the alcohol sweep through his head.

“That's nice Harry.” 

Nixon eventually rejoined them, him and Harry continuing their conversation about Marie. 

Dick pressed his lips together, silently making other plans for tomorrow that didn’t include him being anywhere near a bar. 

September 1943

It had been over a year since their first day at Toccoa, 11 weeks since they got their jump wings and three months until they would ship out to wherever they were meant to go. The 506th PIR was still hard at work at Camp Mackall. 

Currently, Easy company’s second platoon was sat in a ditch for the better part of an hour. Marie was next to Skip Muck, the two had their backs pressed up against the dirt walls waiting to be given an order along with everyone else. 

This had gone on at least three times a week. Sobel would set the platoon up in the wrong position and then the whole company would get wiped out. Walking back to the assembly area after another failed training exercise, Marie trailed in the back. She knew Sobel was jumpy, but she didn’t know he was a piss poor tactician too. 

“Sergeant, how are you holding up?” Winters caught up to her after talking with Sobel.

“I'm fine sir. A bit frustrated, but fine.” A heavy breath passed her lips, her shoulders relaxing with every step she took. 

“I believe we’re moving out tomorrow Marie. Change of scenery should be good for everyone.” 

“You got that right sir. Do you know where we’re going?” 

“I don’t, and even if I did I’m not sure I’d be allowed to say.” His mouth quirked up as he looked at Marie to see her smiling. 

“I’d get it out of you sir, one way or another.” The two parted ways as they got to the assembly area, Dick walking over to the officers and Marie to the enlisted men.  
\--------------------------------------------

Marie and Bill stood on the edge of the train tracks, discussing the very popular topic of Sobel.

“I don’t trust him.” 

“I know Bill, I don’t think anyone does, to be honest. I can’t think of one time during training when half the company didn’t get wiped out.” Marie rubbed her forehead, the sun beating down on them making her sweat.

“How do they expect us to follow that man into combat?” Bill scoffed into the air. “What's wrong?” 

“I have a horrible headache.” Marie squinted in the sunlight.

“It's because you always got ya face all scrunched up, especially when ya thinking about something. When we get on that train you better get some sleep.” 

“Yeah, yeah it's just gonna be so noisy with all the boys crowded together.” Marie whined her shoulders rounding in as she slumped forward a bit.

“We’ll sit in the back, maybe it'll be quieter there.” 

It was not, in fact, quieter in the back. It was just as noisy as every other part of the train, barring the officer car which seemed to be the most peaceful section. Marie bunched her jacket up to use as a makeshift pillow and she scrunched her shoulder up to her ear as an attempt to muffle some of the noise. 

Marie didn’t even realize she had fallen asleep, but three hours later she was jostled awake. Across from her both Skip and Don were writing letters and Bill was out like a light. 

Marie nudged Bill a few times, but her attempts of waking him up were unsuccessful. After a few more minutes she poked her elbow into his ribs, fairly hard.

“Jeez Marie, what the hell was that for?”

“Oh sorry, did I hurt you?” She feigned innocence, a shocked look on her face.

“What was so important that you had to wake me up from my beauty sleep?”

“I’m bored.” She simply stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Okay well, there's not much to do, considering we're on a train.” Marie narrowed her eyes at Bill's attitude.

“Ya know Bill, you said something about beauty sleep, but you’re still ugly.” 

“Okay, you can stay bored.” Bill settled back into his seat closing his eyes once again. Marie tugged on his arm.

“No come on I was just kidding, you’re gorgeous!” Bill snapped his eyes open, glaring at Marie even though his death glare didn’t seem to phase her.

After few minutes of conversation Marie asked the age old question.

“Where do you guys think we're going?” The question made Skip and Don’s heads pop up, their letters were now forgotten.

“I think we're gonna invade Europe, how badass would that be?” Skip was the first one to voice his opinion.

“I think the only place we won’t go is the pacific. But I agree, Europe is a pretty safe bet.” Marie shrugged.

“Why not the pacific?” It was Don who spoke up this time.

“My brothers there, which means the Marines are there. I don’t think they need us.” 

“Only time will tell.” Don said, leading the other three to nod in agreement.

Five and a half hours later the 506th was in New York City. Marie looked longingly out of the train window, although it wasn’t Brooklyn the buildings and bustling streets were familiar. The hardest part of being in New York was boarding the Samaria knowing that she would be leaving without being able to see her family. 

Once onboard most of the Easy men were crowded on the bow and around the sides of the boat, catching their last glimpse of America for who knows how long. The Statue of Liberty was illuminated by the low sun, creating a perfectly cliche New York scene. 

Marie chose not to stay out with the men. She was below deck claiming the bed that would be hers for the next however many days. Marie couldn't bear to see New York get smaller and smaller. Eventually, it would fade from view and she decided that was too depressing. She instead started writing a few letters back to Emily and her parents. 

Twenty minutes later and her page was still blank. Tapping her paper repeatedly with the pencil she held, she gave up on the letters and decided to get some sleep before it got too loud.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter mentions throwing up and being sick so if that grosses you out I’m sorry! It’s not graphic at all but it is mentioned quite a few times throughout.

Marie skipped dinner for the second night in a row, the first time wasn’t intentional she had fallen asleep and tonight she felt sick, she hoped it was just because of how much the boat was rocking back and forth. 

Bill was leaning up against the bunks, his chin resting on Marie's bed as the two had a quiet conversation. Skip and Mal moved their way through the aisle, talking about how lucky the guys going to the pacific are. 

“Hey guys, I’m glad I’m going to Europe. Hitler gets one of these right across the windpipe, Roosevelt changes Thanksgiving to Joe Toye Day, and pays me 10 grand a year for the rest of my fucking life.” Joe flipped his pocket blade out, a smirk spreading across his face.

A few laughs were heard in the immediate area. Bill flipped around after Smokey said something about being shipped out to North Africa instead of Europe.

“My brothers in North Africa. Says it's hot.” 

“Really? It’s hot in Africa?” Don’s sarcastic tone made Marie giggle, her eyes opening as she adjusted her eyes to the light. 

A few moments later Sobel’s name came up in the conversation.

“If I’m next to Sobel in combat, I’m moving down the line. Hook up with another officer, like, uh, Heyliger or Winters.” Alley spoke up.

“I like Winters, he’s a good man, but when the bullets start flying, I don’t know if I want a Quaker doin’ my fighting for me.” Bill sneered, causing Marie to shoot up in her bed, almost kicking him as she swung her legs over the side.

“How do you know he’s a Quaker?” 

“He ain’t Catholic.” 

“Neither’s Sobel,” Don spoke from below Bill, still reading his magazine.

Bill scoffed, “That prick’s a Son of Abraham.” 

“Bill…” Marie nudged his shoulder, trying to get him to quit. 

Lieb stood up from where he was sitting a bit further up after Bill called Sobel a Jew.

“Oh, fuck. I’m a Jew!” Marie got ready to jump off her bunk.

“Congratulations! Get your nose out of my face.” Bill got in Lieb's face.

A fight broke out between the two of them. Marie hopped down immediately getting between them. George Luz grabbed Lieb by the shoulders pulling him off of Bill, who was being unsuccessfully held back by Marie. 

“Are you stupid Bill! Getting into a fight? And with Lieb of all people!” Marie dragged Bill onto the deck by his arm, scolding him the entire way up.

“I’m not sorry about it, he deserved it for gettin' in my face.” Bill shrugged. Marie stopped in her tracks.

“He was defending himself, Bill! So what if he’s Jewish or if Sobel’s Jewish or if Winters is a Quaker we're all here for the same reason. Even if we weren't here to fight a war what does it matter-” Marie threw a hand over her mouth, Bill’s eyebrow raised as he wondered what was going on. 

She ran up the stairs trying to find the nearest garbage can. Doubling over she threw up just barely making it to the can. Bill came up behind where she was kneeling on the floor.

“Jesus Christ, what did you eat?” Marie turned around to look at him.

“Nothing! I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Oh, God!” She folded over again. Bill moved her hair away from her face, crouching down patting her on the back.

“You’re not off the hook, I’m still mad at you.” Marie managed to get her sentence out between coughs. 

“Yeah alright you can yell at me all you want later, but right now we should get you to see a nurse or something.” The two of them made their way to the med-bay Gene was in. As soon as Marie stepped foot through the door she grabbed a trash can that was sitting on the table. 

“She’s throwing up like crazy Gene.” Marie hugged the trash can in front of her.

“When was the last time you ate?” 

“Breakfast. Listen it's probably just motion sickness, I'll be fine in an hour or two.” Gene felt her forehead and her cheeks. 

“You’re burning up, you probably got the flu. It’s been going around ya know.” Gene walked to the sink on the other side of the room, filling up a glass for her.

“No, Gene, I didn’t know it was going around. Thanks for telling me.” Bill scoffed from beside her. He pulled a chair up for her to sit in, rubbing her back as she began to dry heave, making her ribs and abs burn. 

“Bill you shouldn’t be this close to me, I'm gonna give you the flu.” Marie continued to cough into the trash.

“So what if I get it, not like I've never thrown up before.” 

“You should probably stay in here for a few days Marie, at least until that fever goes away.” Gene handed her a cold rag that she wrapped around the back of her neck. 

“Yeah okay, Gene sounds good.” Marie made her way to the few bunks in the room, laying down on the one closest to the ground. 

“Bill if you get any symptoms let me know.” 

“Will do doc. You feel better, I'll come to check on you first thing tomorrow.” 

Marie didn’t sleep that night and neither did Gene who was up with her the entire night. 

\--------------------------------------

Marie threw up for two straight days, hardly being able to keep water down but Gene insisted she drink it to prevent dehydration. Each morning Bill checked in on her just like he said he would. 

“Good morning. I brought you coffee.” Bill walked in two styrofoam cups in his hands.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I could keep it down even if I wanted to.” 

“Still feelin' shitty huh?” Bill sat on the edge of her bunk putting the coffee on the floor in front of him.

“Yeah, haven’t thrown up for a few hours though so that’s something right.” Marie kept her eyes closed as she spoke.

“Hey, at this rate you’ll be back in action in no time.” 

“Haha very funny, I just hope I feel better before we get to wherever.” Marie waved her hands around in thought. 

“Alright well I gotta run, I told Toye to save me a spot for poker.” He tapped Marie’s leg and quickly made his way out the door. 

A few minutes later Gene walked in with a few boxes, dropping them on the table with a rather large bang.

“Guess who I ran into?” Roe asked quietly into the open, beginning to unpack the boxes, he turned to look at Marie who was sat up in bed. 

“Who?” Marie stood picking up the coffee Bill left on the ground.

“Lieutenant Winters, he was asking about you.” Marie swung around coffee spilling out of the cups. 

“Really? Why?”

“He wanted to know how you were feeling.” The conversation was mostly whispering considering another man was sleeping in the bunks.

“Oh, well what did you tell him?” 

“I told him how you were feeling." He said matter-of-factly. "Why?”

“No reason just wondering. You know how people wonder…” Marie trailed off cursing herself in her head. 

“Yeah okay,” Gene looked at her funny, “Well he wanted me to tell you to feel better.” 

“Alright! Well, I’m just gonna lay back down. Let you get back to your unpacking.” A nervous laugh left Marie's mouth. Why was she nervous? The fever must’ve made her crazy. 

Gene sighed, smirking at Marie as she went back across the room. 

The following night Gene finally let Marie out of the prison that was the Med-bay. She was freshly showered and she had a brand new clean uniform on. Stopping on the deck Marie relished in the sunlight, the light spray from the ocean cooling her face down. 

“Marie, nice to see you out and about again.” Dick crossed his arms in front of him, leaning on the railing next to Marie. 

“Thank you, sir, it's nice to see something other than the med-bay.” 

“Well as long as you feel better, it seems to be a pretty bad flu that's going around.”

“Wasn’t pretty sir, that's for sure.” Marie looked over at Dick, who was smiling.

“Alright well,” Dick rolled his sleeve up and checked his watch. “I’m supposed to be meeting Lieutenant Nixon right now but I’ll catch up with you later sergeant.” 

“Right, later sir.” Marie gave him a tight-lipped smile and he was on his way.


	12. Chapter 12

They arrived in England on September 15th, almost a year after they left Toccoa. Marie was impartial to England. The apartment she was staying in was nice enough, an older man and woman occupied the apartment, their names were Frank and Franny. Marie thought it was a joke when she heard their names for the first time.

Frank and Franny were not a joke. They were the two most hospitable people in all of England, much different from what Marie was used to. They were quiet and friendly whereas her family was loud and brash. Marie found familiarity in the apartment next to hers where Dick Winters was being housed. Bill was a few streets over, so the first night they were there Marie figured she would have to deal with smoking alone most nights. 

On the night of the 16th, no soldiers were loitering on the streets, everyone was fairly tired from their first full day of training. Marie had trouble sleeping since Toccoa and tonight was no different. The street was wet from the rain, the streetlight was softly reflecting off the puddles. Marie stepped out onto the cobblestone sidewalk, she leaned against the brick of the house lighting her cigarette.

Marie heard wet footsteps up the street, she knew the officers had a game of poker going and though Dick didn’t play he enjoyed watching Harry and Nix lose their money to a shitty hand so he stuck around. She could tell it was him by the cadence of his steps, he had a long stride and a gentle walk. Marie had one arm wrapped around her body the other folding up every so often to bring her cigarette to her lips. 

As soon as Dick turned onto the street he was staying on he could see the soft burn of Marie’s cigarette. She was about five feet to the side of the light post, but she looked bright as day to him. Her entire body was leaned against the weeping brick, her freshly shined boots jutted out from the wall the slightest bit. 

Dick’s plan to say hello and then go inside fell through as soon he got close to her. Marie turned her head, the back of her neck scraping against the wall. 

“You okay?” Dick leaned next to her, mimicking her stance. 

“Can’t sleep.” Marie shrugged her shoulders, turning her head back to face the street she took an extra-long drag from her cigarette.

“Do you always have this much trouble sleeping?” Dick spoke up, his hands were behind his back.

“No, not at home. Since Toccoa though I haven’t slept right. What about you? I know you like watching poker but this is pretty late for you, no?” Marie’s watch read 12:38 am.

“The rain kept me in longer than I would’ve liked.” He looked over to see Marie nodding. “How are the people you’re staying with?”

“They’re wonderful, they’ve been married for almost 50 years but they act like newlyweds, it's sickening honestly.” Marie laughed thinking about the elderly couple. “What about you?”

“I’m staying with a couple and their daughter. They’re kind, they hardly speak, though I don’t mind the silence after staying in noisy barracks for the past year.” Dick noticed the slight downturn of Marie’s lips when he mentioned the couple's daughter. 

“Their daughter she’s your age, a bit older maybe.” He was mostly telling her this to see if he could get a reaction from her.

“Oh, that’s nice.” Marie smiled tightly, she knew what he was doing.

Dick pushed himself off the wall getting ready to say goodnight when Marie spoke from beside him.

“I see people like Frank and Franny and I can’t imagine living a life like that, not that I don’t want a life like that it's just, well, I can’t see myself in 40 years all old and wrinkly. I can only imagine myself as I am now, and that scares me. I’m 20 and most girls my age would be looking for a husband, but I decided to join the Army.” Marie stuttered through the last sentence. 

“Not everyone gets old and wrinkly Marie. Some people are not meant to grow old and die at the age of 90, but I don’t think you’re one of those people.” 

“You don’t?” Marie smiled at his attempt to make her feel better.

“No, I think you’re gonna get home after the war is over and live in New York until you look like a prune.” The pair laughed at his weak attempt to make a joke, calming down after a few seconds.

“You think we’re gonna make it through all this?” 

“I think we will, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders kid.” 

“Don’t call me kid, you’re only a few years older than me.” Marie put on a fake scowl as Dick turned to walk away, his lips were upturned at her fake annoyance.

“Go get some sleep, that’s an order sergeant.” He jogged up the stairs to the apartment, leaving Marie alone in the street without another word.

Marie quietly walked back in, taking caution so as not to wake up the sleeping couple in the room across from hers. She kicked her boots off, lying face up, the ceiling fan drying her eyes out slightly.

Her anxiety had dissipated greatly from when she first went outside, but she still couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Every time she dozed off something startled her awake, the clicking of the clock, the creaking of a shutter in the wind, the rain hitting her window. 

Marie thought of John from Emily’s block, she dreaded the life that awaited her back home if she were to marry him. Two kids and a white picket fence were never part of Marie’s dreams, but then again neither was war.


	13. Chapter 13

This wasn’t the first time Sobel was late during training and Marie was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last time either.

Field training was hard, making sure you were in the perfect spot at the perfect time was something that took time to get a hang of. Having Sobel as the company commander made training fifteen times harder than it needed to be. Lip was upfront with Dick the both of them trying to figure out what to do without first platoon.

“How much fuckin longer do you think we're gonna be sitting here?” Marie looked over at Bill who was yawning, presumably from boredom. 

“Hopefully not much longer, they’re playing Casablanca tonight and I would like to be back sooner rather than later.” 

“Sobel was supposed to be here 20 minutes ago, I mean come on!” Marie harshly whispered to Bill who laughed at her irritability.

Dick caught Bill's eye as he motioned to him, they were finally on the move.

“Fucking finally!” Marie’s voice was a bit louder than her previous whisper, causing the platoon to snicker around her. Dick looked down smiling to himself as he kept forward. 

An hour later everyone was back at the assembly point, Marie and Bill were leaned up against a crushed brick wall, strayer bounded down the stairs closest to them, Sobel hot on his tail. 

“Who is the idiot that cut that man’s fence?” 

“I was ordered to, sir,” Sobel answered Strayer’s question.

“By whom?” 

“Major Horton, sir.” 

And they went on and on until Strayer told him that Major Horton was on leave in London. Sobel walked away in a huff and George Luz took his place on the steps. 

“Hey, you two! I was looking for you guys!” George walked down the steps and stood over Bill and Marie, a big goofy smile plastered on his face.

“What's up George?” Marie squinted up at him.

“You heard Sobel cut that fence down? Well, you’re lookin' at Major Horton!” His head bobbed up and down as he pointed at himself and laughed.

“Well done George!” Marie smiled as Bill complimented him on his work as well.

“Help me up?” Marie stuck her hand out for George to take, he yanked her up so hard she thought she got whiplash. Bill proceeded to stick his hand out for Marie to pull him up.

Marie struggled to pull Bill up with one hand, she almost fell over trying to help him up.

“George help me! He’s too fat, I can’t do this on my own!” The three of them were happy to have some downtime in the middle of all the training.

“Look at this, goddamn cows are roaming all over the place! Dick?” Lieutenant Nixon followed his line of sight. 

“Oh! I’m not in love with her! We have to focus on the war!” Lew mocked Dick, effectively pulling him out of his trance.

“Stop it Nix.” Dick couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face.

“If I were you I’d just go for it.” 

“Go for what?” Dick’s smile was ever-present.

“Oh don’t play dumb, come on! She’s pretty, and she's smart, Dick, hey just like you pretty and smart.” Lewis patted him on the back leaving him to his own devices. 

“Sir! I was just wondering if you knew anything about our weekend passes?” Marie bounded up to Dick who was startled, to say the least.

“I don’t, but I can certainly find out Marie.” 

“Great thank you! Oh! They’re playing Casablanca tonight, I'll save a seat for you? It’s gonna fill up fast, sir.” 

“I’ll be there.” The two of them exchanged smiles.

Marie eventually caught up to Bill and George who were making their way to the mess hall. 

“Ya know Bill, I was reading something the other day something very interesting.” George flopped his arm around Marie’s shoulder.

“Oh yeah, what was it, Luz?” 

“It was talkin’ about how Marie is sweet on a certain Lieutenant.” Marie stopped in her tracks, the two boys looking back at her with shit-eating grins on their faces. 

“What are you talking about?” Her face went pale at the word Lieutenant.

“Calm down, we’re just messing with you. Besides, sometimes I catch him lookin’ at you too Marie.” Bill teased her, bringing his voice up an octave so he could impersonate a female.

“I can’t like him! He’s a lieutenant for fuck's sake! And it’s not right we're supposed to be getting ready to fight in a war, I-I can't do this! Bill, tell me I can’t do this, I gotta snap out of it!” 

“Marie! Calm down, it's not a big deal it's the circle of life.” George grabbed both of Marie’s shoulders shaking her back and forth.

“You know what else is the circle of life? Eating so let's go get lunch.” Marie had now calmed down a bit, and the three of them were back on their way to the mess hall. 

After lunch, second platoon had a self-defense exercise where Marie and Bill were paired together, which she was grateful for. Last time they had self-defense training she was paired with Lipton who was too nervous that he was gonna hurt her even though she kept telling him she would be fine.

Halfway through the exercise Bill and Marie were at a standstill, the two of them were equally matched when it came to physical fights. Marie being small and quick she was able to get in and out of Bill's grasp as she pleased. 

“Let’s talk about ya crush Marie.” Bill egged her on.

“Let’s not and say we did.” Bill had her distracted enough to grab her legs and pin her.

“Jesus Christ.” Marie coughed, trying to get her bearings. 

“Don’t get distracted, and I won't knock the air outta you.” Bill reached down, helping Marie up. The two of them started over again. 

\-----------------------------------------------

Marie made her way into the theatre, Joe and Bill were a few steps ahead of her. They found Skip, Don, and Penk near the middle, and as promised Marie saved a seat in the aisle for Dick. 

“Sergeant, this seat taken?” Dick gestured to said aisle seat.

“No sir, all yours.” 

The lights turned off and the movie began. The only thing Marie could focus on was Dick’s shoulder brushing up against her own. 

The words of the movie snapped Marie out of her daze, 

“With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas.” 

The Second World War was here, and Marie couldn’t keep distracting her-self with silly illusions.


End file.
